Leclerc new five year Ferrari deal

The 22-year-old from Monaco won back-to-back races in Belgium and Italy and scored seven pole positions, more than any other driver.

Leclerc finished fourth in the drivers' standings, ahead of his four-time world champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who he beat on every metric in 2019.

Leclerc scored more wins, poles and points than Vettel, and in qualifying beat him 12-nine on their head-to-head and was 0.111 seconds quicker on average.

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said: "With each passing race this year, our wish to extend our contract with Charles became ever more selfevident and the decision means he will now be with us for the next five seasons.

"We are very pleased that he will be with us for many years to come and I'm sure that together we will write many new pages in the history of the Prancing Horse." Leclerc said on Twitter: "I'm so grateful to be driving for such a team. I've learnt so much during this first year. It is a great starting point to build a strong relationship for the years ahead."

Leclerc joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2016 and made his Formula 1 debut with the affiliated Alfa Romeobacked Sauber team in the 2018 season, finishing 13th in the standings with 39 points from 21 races.

Leclerc's new Ferrari contract confirms what was already self-evident throughout his highly impressive 2019 season - he is the future of Ferrari in F1.

Ferrari put him in the car in place of Raikkonen for 2019 because they saw in him a young man with enormous potential to become one of the defining figures of F1 in the 2020s and he has fully lived up to expectations.